As many may know from the 49 Megawatts project, Reel Water has always had a passion for the Ashlu River.  It is arguably one of North America’s most impressive river destinations and we are fortunate to have it right in our back yard.  This river has been the source of so much inspiration, but perhaps most notably it was the original testing grounds of our human cable cam.  Three years ago myself and Matt Maddaloni strung a 3/4" steel cable and hung a portaledge from it.  It had enough gradient to scream down the line and we captured some of the coolest kayaking shots at the time.  It was this successful experiment which lead us to develop our new Sea to Sky Cam.  With just a couple months before the Ashlu would be dammed, this summer came full circle when National Geographic hired us to document the last season of the river.  We set up three different cable cams across some of the most impressive sections of the river and worked hard for many more angles.  It was a weekend I will never forget.  We had an amazing team and the energy allowed us to create an impressive story.

The original spool of cable from the 2006 49 Megawatts project.  It was no small task to string that!

The portaledge suspended on the line.  It took two people.  One person laid down and shot while the other controlled the speed down the line.

There were a lot of things on the table with potential to effect this shoot.  Water levels, extensive rigging in a slimy canyon, securing extra cameras and making sure the crew could make the dates.  It took a significant amount of scheduling tricks to get the team lined out for 3 days of shooting and right up to the first day of the shoot, the river was too high from a heat wave.  The weather window was perfect and we kept our fingers crossed that river levels would drop.  Shane Robinson called it.  He said, "it will be perfect, no need to cancel or reschedule!"  At 75cm on the gauge, the Box Canyon would be juicy.  Perfect to make things look exciting on camera, but high enough to excite some nerve endings in the paddlers.

The team.  Todd Gillman, Eric Shertzel, Chris Tretwold, Shane Robinson and Max Kniewasser.

Shane scouting the 50/50 waterfall.  Steve Rogers photos give me the goose bumps at times.  This is no exception.  Wow!

The view from the lip.  This was one of the angles for the cable cam.  You can see the lines in the top of the frame.

We had pitched this story to National Geographic because we knew that we could pull off some of the most amazing whitewater angles.  Because it is so close to my house, I was able to rally up for several scouting missions to scope angles, make decisions on cable cam locations and get a solid game plan to shoot it over 3 days.  For me the whole concept of filming has really evolved in the past year.  It used to be that we would all go up to the river for the weekend and I would paddle down the river and film what I could.  Fast forward to the present.  For this shoot, I was cordinating 2-3 cameras, helping rig 600 foot spans of cable for the cable cam, communicating with the team of paddlers to assure we had them dialed and millions of other details to ensure success.  Fun but hours and hours of hard work.  While it may seem over the top to some boaters, it is what makes a professional product.  After all we were on the hook for National Geographic so needless to say those two words put a bit of pressure on!

Chris Tretwold getting it all started with a seal launch in Day 1.

 The rivers was juicy for sure.  This is from 500 feet up looking down.  Eric Shertzel coming through triple.

After spending the first day shooting the upper canyon from just about every angle one could imagine, we shifted our focus to the 50/50 waterfall for the start of day 2.  I had half jokingly said to all the guys that part of the deal on this shoot was that they had to run 50/50.  This is a significant waterfall with a fast moving pool below that feeds into some of the hardest drops on the run.  With proper safety set, several people we were willing to try their hand at it.  I proved to be one of the most incredible cable cam shots of the whole weekend.  We followed paddlers right over and off the drop.  Unbelievable.

Todd scouting the line.

Todd launching!

It has been a super busy summer.  While I have been behind on getting blog posts up, rest assured that we have been producing more material than ever before.  Stay tuned.  Lots will be launching this winter.  Hope everyone has had a good season out there.